What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Chuck and Friends: Friends for the Long Haul is a storybook app based on Tonka toy trucks. Some of the dialogue, which talks about all the great abilities of these vehicles, can be construed as overly commercial in nature. Beyond that, though, the story has some very positive messages about friendship, taking responsibility for your actions, and understanding your own limits. There are also several instances of memory and word games.

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Is it any good?

CHUCK AND FRIENDS: FRIENDS FOR THE LONG HAUL may have some bits that feel overly commercial, but if you look past that, the story (and there are 74 pages of story to be read here) is a nice, positive one for kids. The visuals are great, but there are no interactive hotspots within the book. However, there are a couple of fully-animated moments. And there are two recurring mini-games that pop up throughout: one is a fun memory-matching game, the other a less-fun screen-cleaning game. Both mini-games reveal letters to spell new words, though -- and all the new words you collect will be available for the story-building game at the end, which is a surprisingly sweet bonus feature. You can earn new words each time you go through the book, too.

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